Friday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial of St. Bruno, priest and monk (†1101). Born in Cologne, Germany, he was ordained a priest and taught Theology in Rheims. Among his students were St. Hugh of Grenoble and the future Pope Urban II, of whom he became a counsellor. He resisted efforts to make him a bishop, and became the founder of the Carthusian Order.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Bar 1:15-22
During the Babylonian captivity, the exiles prayed: “Justice is with the Lord, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem, that we, with our kings and rulers and priests and prophets, and with our ancestors, have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed him. We have neither heeded the voice of the Lord, our God, nor followed the precepts which the Lord set before us. From the time the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord, our God, and only too ready to disregard his voice. And the evils and the curse that the Lord enjoined upon Moses, His servant, at the time he led our ancestors forth from the land of Egypt to give us the land flowing with milk and honey, cling to us even today. For we did not heed the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets whom He sent us, but each one of us went off after the devices of his own wicked heart, served other gods, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 79:1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9 (R.9)
R. For the glory of Your name, O Lord, deliver us.
O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance;
they have defiled Your holy temple,
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the corpses of Your servants
as food to the birds of heaven,
the flesh of Your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth. R.
They have poured out their blood like water
round about Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.
We have become the reproach of our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
O LORD, how long? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire? R.
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly come to us,
for we are brought very low. R.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of Your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for Your name’s sake. R.
Gospel – Lk 10:13-16
Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to Heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ Whoever listens to you listens to Me. Whoever rejects you rejects Me. And whoever rejects Me rejects the one who sent Me.”
Featured Saints
Optional Memorial in Canada and USA: Blessed Marie Rose Durocher, virgin (†1849). Born to a prosperous farming family of Quebec, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in Longueuil, Canada, dedicated to education.
St. Francis Tran Van Trung, martyr (†1858). A soldier of the Imperial army of Vietnam who refused to trample upon a cross, and declared his Faith. For this, he suffered repeated beatings, and was eventually beheaded.
St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds, virgin (†1791). Franciscan Tertiary, she distinguished herself for her works of charity and her intense prayer life. She displayed much patience amidst numerous afflictions, both physical and spiritual.
Blessed Adalbero of Würzburg, bishop (†1090). He was persecuted by schismatics an expelled from his diocese of Würzburg, Germany, for his defence of the Apostolic See.
Blessed Isidor of St. Joseph, religious (†1916). Belgian lay brother of the Passionist Congregation, born Isidor de Loor, he is also known as “Brother of the will of God”. He died of cancer at the age of 35, giving and example of acceptance in face of the atrocious sufferings brought on by his illness.
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